A Season of Miracles

This December started out on a low note with my Dad learning that the chemo he had been on wasn't working.Today was a reminder of just how many miracles December has brought to my family.

Of course December should always be good, with Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, wonderful music and decorations and the many family events, but often the reality is, December can be a tough month. For women especially it is a season of too many things to do in too little time.

Today is December 17, 2013.
On December 16, things looked very bleak for my Mon and Dad. They were given an incorrect statement about Dad's next type of chemo not being covered by insurance.This chemo costs more than Scott and I make in gross income in a month, so you can imagine how overwhelming this was for my fixed income parents.

Today, after many phone calls, my mom had the news that Dad's chemo was approved by the insurance company and their copay for this month was low enough that they could afford it.  No one knows what the next month will bring--so much changes in everyone's insurance in 2014 due to the "Affordable" Care Act..

It was one of those days that you know the Maker of the Universe is on your side. Dad will get to try this strong but effective chemo, and that made Christmas come early for all of us this year.

December has a history with us. Around this time in 2000, we were interviewed by Alexis' birthparents who were making one of the hardest decision a birthparent can make: who they would choose to parent the child they would soon bring into the world. We didn't know we were selected until December 27th, but that entire month was special as we hoped to hear good news for Christmas.
 
On December 17, 1993, my spouse had his first brain surgery for a pituitary tumor. Today he celebrated the 20th anniversary of this first step in what would be a journey back to health. I would not meet Scott until 3 years and a few weeks later, after he had recovered enough to return to work.

So we hope this Christmas brings miracles of your own to you. God cares and he is nearer than we know. As my twelve year old explained to us one day: "The glass can never be half full; the other half is overflowing with air molecules. So the glass is always overflowing." So too is December overflowing with blessing this year.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
Jewels

Monster Mashing through History, Literature and Graphic Novels

Monster mash-ups contain a combination of appeals for their fans and readers wanting to test drive a new sub-genre. These appeals include humor, parody, horror, heroes or heroines, monsters, fast pace and quirky classics. They come in the form of adaptations of classic literary fiction, alternative biographical tales of historic figures or famous authors, or graphic novels. Samples of each type are included below.

Maiming Their Way Through History

Major historical characters meet up with the monsters in their midst.

Grahame-Smith, S. (2010). Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Grand Central Publishing.
From the time of his mother’s death from a vampire attack, our 16th president combats the undead seeking to control the development of America in a private war against vampires and the slave owners with whom they conspire.

Grahame-Smith. S. (2012) Unholy Night. Grand Central Publishing.
Actually notorious thieves on the run, the three kings of the Nativity story fight to protect the holy family from Herod’s killing armies while journeying to Egypt together. Fast-paced, swashbuckling action and heroism.

Moorat, A. E. (2010). Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter. Eos.
Young Queen Victoria inherits a cache of monster-slaying weaponry with her crown. She enlists court demon hunter, Maggie Brown, and Prince Albert to vanquish the horde of giant rats, hellhounds, werewolves, vampires and zombies roaming London. Balances Victoria and Albert’s real romance with satirical accounts of monster fighting.

Moorat, A. E. (2010). Henry VIII, Wolfman. Hodder & Stoughton.
Henry VIII of England is portrayed as a bloodthirsty king who is infected by werewolves. This one may be a little more gory than other mash-ups as a result.

Weston, L. (2010). The Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer. Gallery.
Tudor England mixes with Arthurian legend when Mordred, vampire son of King Arthur and Morgan le Fey, pursues Elizabeth I to join the ranks of the undead so that he can rule England beside her.

Famous Authors Fighting Evil Hordes:

Monsters don’t just want to mash-up with these authors’ famous creations: they want to make mayhem for their creators’ as well.

Ford, M.T. (2009). Jane Bites Back. Ballantine.
Jane, a vampire for 200 years, spends her days as the owner of a small town bookstore unable to publish her most recent novel. Will she be exposed by her past? Wit is more pronounced than Jane’s fangs.

Handeland, L. (2010). Shakespeare Undead. St. Martins Griffin.
William Shakespeare tries his hand as a vampire necromancer teaming with his dark lady, Katherine Dymond as they investigate the origin of an invasion of the undead.

Mullany, J. (2010) Jane and the Damned. William Morrow.
Join Jane Austen, unwillingly vampire, and a group of English vampires fighting for England against a French invasion plan.

Invading Classic Literature:

Jane Austen may be the favorite target of zombies and vampires, but Dickens’, Alcott’s, Shakespeare’s and the Brontes’ protagonists have done their share of holding back the onslaught of the undead and transformed hordes of evil.

Browning Erwin, S. & Bronte, C. (2010). Jayne Slayre: The Literary Classic with a Blood Sucking Twist. Gallery.
Jane, an orphan raised by vampires, is a demon slayer and governess. She falls for Heathcliff, who hides a dark secret: his first wife is a dangerous werewolf.

Coleridge, C. & Kafka, F. (2012) The Meowmorphosis. Quirk Books.
Attempting to turn horror to humor, this parody has Kafka’s main character wakes up one morning as a cute, human-sized kitten. Zombie, werewolf and vampire-free mash-up.

Gabel, C. (2010) Romeo and Juliet and Vampires. Sourcebooks Landmark.
Iambic pentameter and rhyme free, these Montagues are vampire hunters, the Capulets are vampires. Romeo meets Juliet while she is still human, they fall in love, but the rest of the story could only happen with vampires involved.

Grahame-Smith, Seth (2009). Pride and Predjudice and Zombies: the classic regency romance—now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem. Grand Central Publishing.
Elizabeth is already combating a mysterious plague afflicting Meryton when Mr. Darcy arrives and romantically distracts her from zombie slaying.

Gray, S. (2011) A Vampire Christmas Carol. Kensington.
Scrooge has one last chance to regain his lost love, Belle, from the vampires she pursues assisted by Scrooge’s clerk and his nephew, Fred.

Gray, S. (2010) Wuthering Bites. Kensington.
Catherine Earnshaw faces a choice between marrying the wealthy refined Edgar, and her love for dangerous but devoted vampire and vampire slayer, Heathcliff. Heathcliff struggles between compassion for his victims and his own blood thirst.

Hockensmith, S. & (2009). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls. Quirk Books.
A prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The young Bennett sisters seek their inner ninja, as they train to fight the zombie hordes. Parody.

Hockensmith, S. & (2011). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After. Quirk Books.
Sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Mr. Darcy has been infected through a zombie encounter. Should Elizabeth promptly beheading and incinerating him or seek out an experimental zombie anecdote in London? Parody.

Jeffers, R. (2009). Vampire Darcy’s Desire: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation. Ulysses Press.
Mr. Darcy struggles with a 200 year old familial curse: he’s half vampire and half human. His love for Elizabeth only complicates his desires.

Josephson, W. (2010). Emma and the Vampires. Sourcebooks Landmark.
Gentleman vampires fight against wild vagrant vampires as clever but comically clueless Emma plays matchmaker with her friends and the town gentlemen..

Messina, L. (2010). Little Vampire Women. Harper Teen.
A light toned parody mirroring the March Girls original story. The girls are back with vampiric lifespans avoiding consuming human blood while fighting against vampire slayers and courting non-vampires.

Roberts, A. (2011) I am Scrooge: a Zombie Story for Christmas. Gollancz.
Dickens will never be the same, nor will Jacob Marley for that matter. Many tongue-in-cheek puns populate this zombie-mayhem-filled Christmas Eve journey.

Winters, B. & Tolstoy, L. (2009) Android Karenina. Gollancz.
Set in a world where robots, cyborgs and interstellar travel are commonplace, the relationships of the original are set in a steampunk world of rebellious clockwork machines and counterattacking androids.

Winters, B. & Austen, J. (2009) Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Quirk Books.
When Elinor and Marianne lose their home, the island they move to contains creatures worthy of a Ray Harryhausen movie. Watch out for the tentacles, including the family matchmaking ones!

The Inevitable Mash-ups: Graphic Novel Tales Imbued with Monsters

Jensen, V. & Higgins, D. (2009) Pinocchio Vampire Slayer. SLG Publishing. (series).
When Geppetto is slain by vampires, Pinocchio learns of his unique vampire slaying skill set. Humorous dialogue combined with elements of the original fairytale make for an entertaining romp against evil.

Lee, T. & Grahame-Smith, S. (2010). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel.
Quirk Books.
Tony Lee illustrated the graphic novel adaptation based on Grahame-Smith’s well-known zombie infested retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Moore, A. & O’Neill, K. (1999). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. America’s Best Comics.
Though it is more strictly interpreted as literature invading comics, the League predates the current “monster mashup” genre, but includes enough common elements to provide some entertaining adventures for readers seeking more intrigue. Stoker’s Mina (Murray) Harper (the team’s vampire), Wells’ Invisible Man, Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Wilde’s Dorian Gray, Verne’s Captain Nemo and Allan Quartermain from Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines team up as Victorian Era Justice League protecting the British Empire (circa 1898) from a powerful mastermind. Steampunk aficionados may enjoy the technology used. Adventure/Thriller.

Apple, J. & Teitelbaum, M. (2012). The Very Hungry Zombie. Skyhorse Publishing.
This parody of Eric Carle’s classic, The Very Hungry Catepillar, tells the story of a zombie eating all of his favorite “foods.” The artwork style and board book construction imitate Carle’s classic toddler tale right down to die cut pages. Recommended for adult readers.

Adventures in the 'Hood

Urban Fiction—subgenre: Christian Urban Fiction
Title: Even Sinners Have Souls
Authors: Noire, Chunichi, B.L.U.N.T., KaShamba Williams
Editor: E.N. Joy (2007)
Intro by: Nikki Turner, the “Queen of Hip Hop Lit”
Includes “Even Sinners have Souls” a poem by Oscar McLain III

This book is an anthology of short stories and novellas by some of female urban fiction writers with the express purpose of allowing them to write from their spiritual perspectives. They are following in a tradition laid down by earlier writers and preachers. Some of the best evangelists of any time period speak with a connection to the pop culture of their time. The Wesley brothers' hymns were often based on tunes heard in their local pubs.

These urban authors use the stories and language their readers expect with the additional insight into the inner spiritual struggles of characters trying to do the right thing or step away from sinful lifestyle choices. Each contributor has their own level of inclusion of sexual content, so the authors did keep portions of that element from their normal writing. High-end fashion, music and material goods descriptions are typical of the main genre. This volume is a perfect example of a caution Saricks gave about Christian fiction often confronting less than comfortable moral issues. Drugs, murder, out-of-wedlock relationships, deception, incest and affairs are discussed from various viewpoints along with the saving, forgiving and courage-inspiring power of God. The underlying message that anyone can still be reached no matter how deep they are entangled in a sinful life.

The writers use the inner thought life of their characters to depict their compelling motivations and spiritual struggles. Character is stronger than plot in driving these stories. In some ways, the stories reminded me of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters in their depictions of the “temptations of the old life” and in one case the manipulative misuse of scripture by an adulterous male church leader. Nikki Turner’s introduction is not to be skipped as it does explain the goals of the authors which follow her of using their writing not only to feed their families but as a gift from God to point others toward Him or toward better choices. One of the most compelling purposes she stated in her intro was expressing to younger women that “Not all sugar daddy’s are sweet.”


Annotations for the individual stories:
Double Jeopardy by B.L.U.N.T.: Tells the tumultuous story of identical twins Denise and Dina, whose lives could not be more different. Dina is a drug dealer (Queen D) and single parent of 2, and Denise is a law office intern and fiancée of a well-connected lawyer. When Dina’s associates and the police come after her, she calls on Denise to care for her children while she sets up her escape plan. Denise is mistaken for her in a classic wrong place, wrong time situation and the story follows both women through the events that unfold from that mistake. (My personal favorite of the 4 stories in this book due to the contrast of the 2 sisters and the plotting involved. Plot and character drive this story equally.)

Trust No Man by Chunichi: This tells the story of a woman living the party girl lifestyle with her 2 best friends. Tatiana, nicknamed “Goldie” for her gold-digger lifestyle, has only one use for men: that they spend money on her. Her lack of trust comes from a horrible incident in her past. Her believing grandmother has another goal in mind for Goldie: her salvation and meeting the right Godly man. (This one does a bit of a jump to a conclusion.)

Backslider by KaShamba Williams: This tells the story of a beautiful single woman drawn into a church by an attractive but married church leader who twists scripture for his own carnal gains. Her dilemma about the nature of love makes an interesting read. (Contains the male character that most reminds me of Screwtape. "Backslider" is Christian slang for someone who has fallen back into sin).

Everything for the Truth by Noire: NBA star wife, Porsche, searches for the truth about an accusation against her husband. When she finds it, she chooses where to draw her line in the sand and decides if her man is part of her future or her past. She has to choose between material security and trusting God for everything. (I have to give this one credit for a courageous heroine.)

Characteristics of the Genre:

• Gritty street life and language
• Drugs or sex have an important role in the plot
• Detailed descriptions of fashions, accessories, cars and musical references
• Character Driven
• African American urban culture and slang

What makes it a Christian story?

• The authors showing their audience that no matter how “bad” the sin they are in, there is a forgiving God who loves them and can help them change their lives.
• Characters openly professing their faith
• Redemptive situations
• Focus on choices or repentance
• Confronting tough social or moral issues head on

Read Alikes:
B.L.U.N.T., Betrayal of a Hustler (urban fiction)
Nikki Turner, any of her titles
E.N. Joy,    Love, Honor or Stray; Trying to Stay Saved; Been There, Prayed That (all titles Christian urban fiction)
Pat Simmons, Free from Guilt, (Christian urban fiction)
Vanessa Williams, Former Rain (Christian urban fiction)

Non Fiction Tie-Ins:
Taylor Field, Mercy Streets: Seeing Grace on the Streets of New York
(Field relays stories of unexpected grace in the mean streets of New York and the Bronx.)

Wesley Hill, Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality
(Hill is a gay Christian, who has chosen to live a celibate life--tie in for a Chunichi character.)

Tony Evans, God’s Unlikely Path to Success
    God Is Up to Something Great: Turning Your Yesterdays into Better Tomorrows
    Kingdom Man: Every Man’s Destiny, Every Woman’s Dream
    Destiny: Let God Use You Like He Made You
(Evans is an African American Pastor in urban Dallas, Texas known for speaking to men about redemption, marriage, fatherhood, societal and spiritual responsibility.)

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (One of the characters in KaShamba Williams story reminds me of scripture-twisting Screwtape and Wormwood, Lewis’ classic demons.)

More Christian Urban fiction selections here:
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/urban-christian-fictionhttp://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/urban-christian-fiction

More standard Urban Fiction selections here, thought the list is clogged with urban fantasy.
(I chose page 2 of the list because it contains half of the authors I know I’ve been asked about: K’wan, Nikki Turner, Deja King and Zane).
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/urban-fiction?page=2

Excellent Service, Exceptional Readers:

Challenging Libraries to Reach All Avenues of User Ability
(this really long post was a paper for my Reader's Advisory class at IUPUI)

A few recent instances pulled together the theme for this paper. I just read a compact treatise titled Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries for Today’s Complex World. It challenges library users to expand their expectations to a library relevant to and engaged with their community. I thought about this and how we deliver reader advisory—are there areas where we can pump RA up to meet today’s users? I had a couple of experiential situations that we just might have room to expand or improve our interaction with readers and raise our perceived value as keepers of book knowledge and a place for growth.

I also work in the downtown library of a county-wide metropolitan library system. I’m a page and a Library Science student. I believe that it helps overall customer service if we pages at least acknowledge the patrons we pass and ask if they need any help finding anything, especially if we see them looking lost. I don’t pretend to be a librarian with skills, I’m still in the lightly armed and unpredictably dangerous mode called “student.” I do want my library’s patrons to succeed in finding their treasures. Within a library system that boasts 4 million items, it can be a bit of a treasure hunt for the information seekers wandering our aisles.

Some of my examples of under-served readers come from my own experience, and some were inspired by articles relating experiences of active librarians. Of particular interest to me, are ways to reach these people that either go beyond the standard RA interview or bridge an accessibility gap. I’m going to focus on three groups of readers. The first group consists of generally younger adults of all ethnicities who seek “street” or “urban” fiction. The second are the 55 and over “seniors” that may need more accessible formats or be looking for social contact with peers or cross-generational interest groups. The third are newer immigrants, ESL and bilingual patrons desiring materials in their native language or materials to bridge them into reading more English.

Zombies and Vampires and Werewolves Don’t Scare Me
Since librarians and paraprofessionals at my library rotate through the various information desks, I’ve noticed that one very popular genre which I find mystifying is also not an easy area for many of them. It’s a fear factor thing for some, a hatred of some of the scantily clad cover subjects for others. Our readers can be as hesitant to ask for help as we are afraid we won’t be familiar enough to help them. Barry Trott (2009) describes the concerns of “reference librarians” dealing with fiction questions as “grouped in four areas:

• “I don’t read fiction so how can I do readers’ advisory work?
• “I don’t like genre X (be it horror, romance, mystery) so I cannot help someone find a book in that area.
• “I don’t know how to talk about books with a reader.
• “Readers’ advisory does not have any real answer; unlike a reference question, there are too many possibilities.”

As with any anxiety creating communication: the best response is a good offense. Not that we need to read all the styles of fiction books ourselves but we do need to get familiar with some of the language they may use and the appeals found in different genres so we can avoid the “deer in the headlights” look and hook the reader into continuing the conversation. We need to value them as fellow readers first. Readers’ Advisory is one of those areas where practice and familiarity with the tools of the trade are can improve our ability to serve the public. It never hurts to have bookmarks to a few genre related websites in easy reach, also.

One particular genre is called “street fiction” or “urban fiction.” It has gritty, course, street toughened characters. Situations often surround stories with drug use or dealing, prostitution, money laundering. Most is written from an African American or Latino perspective. It’s hugely popular with adults in their 20s to 30s. Popular to the point we ask patrons to put hold requests on the books so that we might be able order more copies of the most popular authors. There are many online resources to help librarians satisfy the reading interests of this group. Further complicating the genre: urban fantasy is the paranormal/horror/evil stepbrother of urban fiction so there are appeals within the subgenre which may or may not suit the taste of the main genre fans and vice versa. It’s highly unlikely that the same person would be a fan of Jim Butcher’s Wizard for hire, Harry Dresden, and Kiki Swinson’s “wifey” heroine, Kira, for instance. Part of delivering personalized service to this audience could entail keeping an annotated cheat sheet of appeal factors for various common authors or titles at the fiction desk or some bookmarked pages in GoodReads or NoveList.

Older Adults and the Impact of Health and Mobility Decline
While many of our traditional reader’s advisory methods serve adults over 55 well, it is when age begins to rob some eyesight or mobility that we may need to establish other methods to support their reading appetites. Ellen Forsyth did a literature survey prior to commencing her own study and found, “that much readers’ advisory work, other than some targeting of children and young adults, does not target specific age groups or agilities.” (2009: 128) She also found that while 75% of the libraries she surveyed offer book groups, not many offer intergenerational groups which she thought would strengthen the community and improve trust between age groups. Forsyth’s survey also found that there were not many age-targeted groups offered for fit over 65 year olds- More than 80% of libraries who completed her survey didn’t intentionally offer book discussion groups directed toward this group.

Service to older adults will need to focus on two types of patrons: those with sufficient mobility to come to the library and those who need home access to resources. The homebound will likely use a mix of physically delivered and electronically downloaded materials. As more baby boomers age into this group they bring with them computer, internet and mobile device skills which we can capitalize on in several ways to better serve our elder patrons. Making these booklists available through web browsers and mobile web browsers is a simple way to improve access for this age group. Simple fixes such as changing the font size to a larger type version can make a printed book list more accessible to anyone with age-caused vision impairments. Using personal interviews and large type format reading preferences forms can help both in-library and homebound patrons. Keeping abreast of what our patrons with eyesight limitations would like to have in audio, eBook and large type formats can help our collection and resource sharing remain relevant to our community. We also need to keep in mind any senior centers and assisted living or care centers as potential areas for outreach and offsite lending libraries.

There were several opportunities which Forsyth thought libraries could answer with creative use of newer technologies. As our population ages, the numbers of frail community members will rise and there will be a greater emphasis on distance service and utilizing technology advancements to more completely meet their needs. One easy to adapt technology are eReaders which allow for text scaling and text-to-speech options.
Forsyth also proposes that we get familiar with video chat software as a potential tool to give personable service to our homebound customers. Using that example I could see a case for using videophone applications like Face Time and Skype to speak with our customers. Sites like GoodReads could also be an outlet for homebound readers looking for conversations around books of common interest. A recent comparative review of video chat tools can be found at http://video-chat-im-software-review.toptenreviews.com/.

Another interesting proposal was using online gaming interfaces like Second Life or World of Warcraft as meeting spaces for book discussion groups. Since one desire noted by libraries was that their older patrons wanted to participate in intergenerational groups, operating through a gaming portal could open some interesting possibilities for members of different generations to interact.

For the mobile and lower tech desiring patrons, finding common interests could facilitate intergenerational groups. I know of a group of middle school boys who calls themselves “Knitting Ninjas.” Imagine if they worked together with retirees on a knitting project for a local children’s hospital or shelter. Imagine they used the library as their meeting place to work on or organize their project.

Language Barrier or Opportunity?
Another service area challenge in a metropolitan library that serves a substantial ESL and immigrant population is providing Readers’ Advisory and reference help for patrons wanting resources in their own language. Keren Dali identifies several gaps in public library readers’ advisory: “the…interview with an immigrant reader who is not a native English speaker, locating suitable books in languages other than English to suggest to a reader, and finding books in English similar to those enjoyed in readers’ native languages.”(Dali, 2009: 217). Dali points out that a reader advisor interview with this population can be successful even if the library doesn’t own the suggested material. What is most desired by the immigrant is the opportunity for a social connection with personal interaction. “What readers would appreciate is a chance to talk to an interested, sympathetic, and professional individual in the library….” (Dali, 2009: 218). Some assumptions we should guard against:

• Immigrants may not all want their leisure reading to be in their native language.
• Some will want materials in English, but be overwhelmed by the available choices.
• Don’t assume they only want to read only “their culture’s” authors.
• Having genre specific lists of popular English works translated into major languages a library serves is a thoughtful gesture that the immigrant will notice—even if your library doesn’t own all of the titles on the list.
• Immigrants are often interested in the works of local and regional authors, from whom they can gather more understanding of the culture around them.
  (Dali, 2009: 218-219).

Because I have some deciphering issues with certain accents, I’m sensitive to the barrier that creates for me to help someone. Crusty Germanic, lyrical Welsh and Irish, thick Scottish, French-Canadian, and British-Indian and Pakistani, I muddle through well, with others I’m tragically inept. I hate the thought of someone being frustrated far from the information desk and our foreign language books are both a good distance and out of sight from the main desk. Spanish is one of the accents that I tend to have a really hard time understanding, so maybe I should have just gone on my merry shelving way. Instead, I paused and asked the friendly patron I’d run across if they needed any help finding something. They tried to tell me what they wanted to find, I tried to point them to an area in the non-fiction to see if that was what they wanted. I’m not totally sure if I showed him the right thing or not. He tried to ask me for something else, I showed him something else. It basically devolved into he and I couldn’t find word combinations we could both understand. I apologized and suggested he talk to someone at the information desk.

For a new-to-English speaker, it might be helpful to have a bilingual readers’ advisory form with native language descriptive and appeal terms translated into English so both librarians and patron can communicate. Major nonfiction categories would be handy to have on this form to assist ESL patrons seeking nonfiction materials. Of course making such a form would be best accomplished through working with fluent bilingual booklovers from the immigrant community.

Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zone is the Skeleton Key
Much like old skeleton keys could open many doors, the one commonality between reaching the aging, the immigrant and the street lit reader is stepping outside our comfort zone and looking for ways to assist them in finding their next good read or an interest group to join. In serving these diverse groups, the most important is the willingness of the library staff to take the time to get to know the readers and familiarize themselves with tools and media that could enhance the readers’ library experiences. Extending our value-added services beyond the limits of our walls is just part of being a vital community resource. This requires a mindful process of self-education and getting to know our customers likes and wants. The payoff for our communities is expanded person to person services. The return for our libraries is increased value perception within the community.

________________________
References:
Dali, K. (2010) Readers’ advisory interactions with immigrant readers. [Article]. New Library World, 111(5/6), 213-222.
Forsyth, E. (2009). Readers advisory services for older adults. [Article]. APLIS, 22(3), 128-140.
Trott, B. (2012). Reference, Readers' Advisory, and Relevance. [Article]. Reference Librarian, 53(1), 60. doi: 10.1080/02763877.2011.596367

A Plum of a Mystery

Intellect Genre: Mystery

Author: Janet Evanovich
Title: One for the Money
Genre: Books to movies; Chick lit; First person narratives; Mystery stories
Publication Date: 1994
Number of Pages: 290 pgs.
Geographical Setting: Trenton, New Jersy area
Time Period: contemporary.
Series: Stephanie Plum
 
Storyline: Character-driven

Tone: Funny; Upbeat

Writing Style: Conversational; Witty

Annotation:

Out of work as a lingerie buyer and desperate for cash, Stephanie Plum appeals to her cousin Vinnie for a job in his bail bonds office. Plum narrates her own story as a rookie skip tracer struggling to learn her trade. Some situations are graphically described. Self-depreciating descriptions of the events and people in her life pepper the story with both humor and pathos.

Reservations: This is not the best book in the series, nor is it as entertaining as later Plum novels. One for the Money let Evanovich rough out the regular players in Stephanie’s life. Plum’s early encounters with one of the felons she wants to apprehend and interactions with another particularly violent character are described graphically, including abusive and torturous behavior, creating an element of suspense and genuine fear for her safety. Much street language is used. Sexual situations are described frankly. This is not a gentle read, though it's many humorous moments keep the general mood lighter.

Subject Headings: Plum, Stephanie (Fictitious character) > Fiction.
Women detectives > Fiction.
Bounty hunters > Fiction.
Trenton (N.J.) Fiction.

Appeal: strong female protagonist, humor, first person narrative, entertaining characters, unpredictable situations, fast pace.

Three terms that best describe this book: Humorous, Entertaining, Street wise.


Read Alikes:

• Cabot, Meg. (2006). Size 12 is not fat.
• Crusie, Jennifer. Agnes and the hitman.
• Martin, Nancy. (2002). How to murder a millionaire: a Blackbird Sisters mystery.

 
Nonfiction tie-ins:

• Gaines, Ann. (1999). Private investigators and bounty hunters . Austin Sarat, general editor. Philadelphia : Chelsea House Publishers.
• Laney, Joseph and Mobley, Cyn. (2004). Gotcha! : tales from a black-belt bounty hunter. Guilford, Conn. : Lyon's Press, c2004.
• Chapman, Duane with Morton, Laura. (2007). You can run, but you can't hide. New York : Hyperion, 2007.

Intellect Genre: Science Fiction

Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Title: Tunnel in the Sky
Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: 1955
Number of Pages: 262 pgs.
Geographical Setting: Earth, Moon and a distant planet
Time Period: Future, when earth’s overpopulated and outer planets are being settled and interplanetary travel happens through “gates” to “tunnels in the sky” or wormholes.
Series: stand alone

Annotation:

The story centers around participants in a 2-10 day final exam for high school and college Advanced Survival students on a wilderness planet. Test conditions include: “any planet, any climate, any terrain, no rules, all weapons, any equipment.” When Rod Walker and his fellow survival students are sent to their test planet through a wormhole in space, things go awry and the test lasts far longer than planned. The students must choose to band together in community building a settlement, or try to survive alone.

Classroom or YA reading appropriate: 

This could be an alternate choice for a survival novel for the kid who’s already read everything else or doesn’t want to read Girl Who Owned a City because it’s about a girl. Faith is represented in an “all are equal light.” The main character is calmed by his family’s rituals but is more of pragmatist than a believer in a faith. The young people make some very deliberate and positive choices about the nature of their community and it’s survival.

Subject Headings: Civilization, Examinations, Life on other planets, Wilderness survival, Students, Teenage boys, Wilderness survival. (from NoveList)
Appeal: Adventure, Survival Stories, Strange New World, Future.
Great crossover tale for adventure lovers into the sci-fi realm.
Three terms that best describe this book: Cooperation, Survival, Subsistence, Training.

Aha! So that’s where that idea came from:

If you love these television series or films, you’ll recognize some elemental influence possibly came from this book.

• Firefly (2002) Joss Whedon
• Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979) Glen A. Larson
• Stargate (1994) Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin

Read Alikes:

• Girl Who Owned a City, O.T. Nelson. --dystopian survival tale of a group of children and their leader. 
• Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs.-- Human surviving and adapting to new culture and alien planet. 
• The Transall Saga, Gary Paulsen. --Teen transported to a strange world uses his survival skills.

Nonfiction Tie-Ins:

• Time Travel and Warp Drives: A Scientific Guide to Shortcuts through Time and Space, Allen Everett and Thomas Roman. 
• Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction, Paul J. Nahin.
• The Ultimate Survival Manual : 333 Skills that Will Get You Out Alive, Rich Johnson.

Adrenaline Genre: Adventure

Author: Clive Cussler
Title: Atlantis Found
Genre: Adventure
Publication Date: 2000
Number of Pages: 530 pgs.
Geographical Setting: Antartica, Telluride, Colorado, St. Paul’s Island, Metro Washington D.C.
Time Period: With background stories from 7120 B.C. and 1858, the main action takes place in early 2001.
Series: Dirk Pitt, #15

Annotation:

This action-packed, Dirk Pitt adventure features the breakneck pacing, exotic locations, technical background and oceanographic and archeological exploration typical of Cussler’s works. Starting with background tales from a 7,000 B.C. comet strike and resultant civilization loss and planet-wide climate and geologic alterations, to mid 19th century whaler locked in Antartic ice Cussler evolves an entertaining page turning yarn replete with Nazi descendants sparking a world endangering plot. Of course they have Dirk Pitt, sidekick Al Giordano and the ubiquitous National Underwater and Marine Agency to contend with first.


Subject Headings: Atlantis, Dirk Pitt, Geographic Myths (from Evergreen Indiana catalog)
 
Appeal: Breakneck Pace, Exotic Locations, Artifact Hunting
 
Three terms that best describe this book:  Action-oriented, Plot-driven, Heroic

Similar Authors from NoveList:

•    Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964   
•    Will Adams, 1963-
•    Douglas J. Preston and Lincoln Child
•    Ted Bell
•    Matthew Reilly

Relevant Non-Fiction or Ancient Works and Authors

•    Santos, Arysio. (2011). Atlantis: the lost continent finally found. Lynwood, MA: Atlantis Publications.
•    Plato. (2000) The Atlantis Dialogue. Shephard, Aaron, Ed. Shephard Publications.
•    Rink, P. (2006). Admiral Richard Byrd: Alone in the Antartic. Sterling Publishing.

Plot Summary [spoiler-laden]:

The story begins with some decently worded prose describing a large comet strike around 7120 B.C. in the Hudson Bay area. The impact causes cataclysmic events including wiping out most of the world’s civilizations and shifting continents around the globe. The story moves on to describe how the highly advanced Amenes culture predicted the event and left behind sophisticated predictions of a similar event. Nearly 9,000 years later a mid-19th century whaler discovers an 18th century ship frozen in Antarctic ice. In the older ship’s hold are artifacts from this ancient culture. As the ice field suddenly begins to break up, the captain’s wife manages to escape from the derelict ship caring an unusual black obsidian skull. Over 140 years later, a Colorado miner invites archeologists to the odd room he discovers off an old mine shaft which contains another skull. When attempts to-bury the mine explorers alive bring in a scuba-diving rescuer, we finally meet the multi-talented Dirk Pitt. Pitt and his partner, Al Giordino, work for the National Underwater and Marine Agency. Their agents seem to turn up wherever needed in the nick of time. The artifacts and archeologist, Dr. O’Connell, move to Washington only for the group to learn that another obsidian skull was found much earlier in Antarctica. The two skulls and the cave inscriptions are deciphered with the aid of the stereotypical computer geek and his A.I. supercomputer. As more clues become available, Giordano heads to the remote St. Paul Island near Australia while Pitt heads to the Antarctic. Both teams are attacked by the New Destiny group. New Destiny’s Wolf family, the clone-like, genetically engineered descendants of a Nazi officer, use their WWII U-boats and multi-national corporation to fund a maniacal plot to usher in the “Fourth Reicht” by explosively separating the Antarctic ice shelf from the continent. They hope to upset the balance of the earth in a cataclysm equal to the prehistoric comet-created one. This villainous family is worthy of a Bond megalomaniac. Lovers of technology and conspiracy theory will find much to geek over. Worth mentioning is the re-engineering of Admiral Bird’s failed Snow Cruiser. Pitt and buddy Giordino are on their way to assist the combined U.S. special ops forces in disrupting the explosion plan. They drive the Snow Cruiser through the ancient city of Atlantis, magnificent even though locked in a layer of ice. The pair save the world as usual. The book closes with exploration of the ancient city beginning.

A Parody of Family Harmony

Lowry, Lois. (2008) The Willoughbys. Houghton Mifflin Company.

With modern children pining to live the lives of 19th century story orphans, and uncaring parents planning to abandon the children The Willoughbys is a children’s novel turned on its head. It takes a few chapters and development of some likeability in the scheming siblings for the humor to gel. From there it’s a wild ride alluding to every children’s, rags-to-riches story between Oliver Twist and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Even when the children’s plans go awry, their solutions can only cause the reader to giggle. The Willoughbys is a sophisticated, laugh out loud, language-rich voyage through the tribulations of four resourceful child protagonists that will entertain children of any age. Quirky ending included.

Please ask the librarian!!

Secret Shopper in the Library with a Candlestick 

Shh. Don't tell them I don't have a card for their library. 
I was excited about being a Secret Shopper in a strange library. I drove up to Lebanon Public Library in Boone County. It's of similar size to my town library but is very differently set up. It's also a gorgeous expansion of an early 20th century Carnegie library. I'm a sucker for good architecture so I've wanted an excuse to slink around there. I liked the shelving because nothing was too high for my average height self to read. Like my town, they had a good size collection of large print fiction. I also liked that they had categorized their fiction into general fiction, inspirational, western, mystery, science fiction/fantasy and what seemed to be an adventure/thriller section. I found it humorous that Harlequin-size romances were tucked into wall shelves hidden behind the circulating nonfiction stacks. Graphic novels were much easier to find!

I browsed for a while then went to the circulation desk and asked the young gal working there if there was a librarian that could help me find a good book. I told her the last thing I read was Jan Karon's Mitford series and I'd kinda liked that. She looked slightly stymied, then said let me see if someone else can help you. She got one of the librarians out of the office behind the circ desk. 

I repeated my request to this librarian who was probably 5-8 years older than me. I probably gave her too much to go on because I added that I liked the small town cast of characters. I also mentioned I liked the literary tie in that Karon used with pulling Coleridge quotes into her stories. She thought for a moment and then asked me if I'd read Phillip Gulley. I said no. She explained that he was a Quaker or Friends minister that was an Indiana author and wrote about a small town. She said it had a humor and I asked if it was at the expense of the small town people or respectful? She said it was respectful. I said that sounded interesting. She took me back over to inspirational fiction and pulled the entire Phillip Gulley set off the shelf. She wanted to find the 1st of the series for me so she went over to one of the nearby deep window sills and checked through for the earliest copyright. She pointed out, with a bit of pride, that one of the books was signed by the author. As I thanked her for her help, she stopped and told me that Gulley had spoken to a small to mid-sized library conference "before he got big," and she'd enjoyed him. I thought that was cool.

I would say from reading one chapter and glancing through the 1st book that she hit a nail on the head with a read-alike for Karon's series. Gulley's main character describes his leaving of his 12 year pastorate as "a medical leave. I was sick of them and they were sick of me." A little more self-depreciating than the introspective Vicar, Tim, of Mitford, but I could see where the series has great potential as a read alike. Good enough that I'll check with my mom to check with her fellow Mitford fans.

Reflecting on the experience, I would say I gave her too much to start with. I had no clue that anything similar existed--or that there was a nearly local writer who'd written one! She gave me only the one idea, though it was so close to the series I liked, it was a home run. She did not use any RA tools, but I was happy to find out a new author.

Gulley, Phillip. Home to Harmony

Oh, the circulation desk had a very clever industrial "warning" style sign that suggested that the staff liked helping people. I liked the cleverness.

Librarians slaying the dragons of tweendom:

I've asked librarians for help in the past, usually because my most voracious reading child is not much for picking out her own books in the library, is reluctant to ask for help and she doesn't always like the same books I did or do. She wouldn't touch my Hardy Boys with a duster, let alone read them when she was that age. (Sigh. I still love Frank and Joe). She didn't like the O'Keefe clan from A Wrinkle in Time. (What's not to like about a family that time travels and a mom that cooks dinner on a bunsen burner?) She wasn't that impressed with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, either. I've asked librarians for books on her behalf many times in the past. 

My most recent venture in book shopping for my daughter was asking for books about dragons. The catch was they had to be dragons that were friends and allies, not dragons like St. George would have killed. She's an advanced reader so we are caught in the limbo of kids and tweens books might not be enough of a challenge, but YA might be a little accelerated in content. Between my own browsing, 3 children's librarians (only 1 read fantasy herself) and the teen librarian (it must have been shift-change on a really slow day!) we ended up with a stack for her to pick through. We also had some listings of some YA books that were Young Sherlock Holmes because the teen librarian found out my daughter liked the BBC series Sherlock. The most highly recommended dragon book was a hit. She's currently reading the second book in the series.
 

 

 

A Thriller for Today

Adrenaline Genre:
Thriller with a Healthy Dash of Suspense

Title: Hong Kong
Author: Stephen Coonts
Genre: Political Thriller
Publication Date: 2000
Number of Pages: 350 pgs.
Geographical Setting: Hong Kong, China after repatriation to Mainland China.
Time Period: present day/near future
Series: Jake Grafton

Annotation:
Two intertwined murders, an investigation into the actions of the U.S. Consul General and his wife's invitation to speak at a professional conference bring Rear Admiral Jake Grafton to Hong Kong. In a city torn between it's colonial past communist present, and a revolutionary desire to return fully to capitalism, Grafton discovers all is not what it seems and many motives intertwine. Coonts explores family dedication, the trust between husbands and wives, and technology bordering on science fiction in weaving a complex, political thriller with it's share of hardware and heroism.

Plot Summary:
The story opens with CIA’s thief-on-call, Tommy Carmellini, carefully searching of the just-murdered China Bob Chan’s office for a tape recorder planted by another agent. Unraveling the reason for Chan’s murderer and the murderer of a CIA agent are only one small thread of the plot. The main focus and major point of view comes through Rear Admiral Jake Grafton. He is sent to Hong Kong to investigate some suspicious actions of his former flight team member, the U.S. Consul-General, Virgil “Tiger” Cole. Jake’s wife Callie was invited to speak at a conference in Hong Kong and accompanies him there, as convenient cover story. In Hong Kong, society is not all what China wants the western world to see. Bank failures in Japan and Chinese government-created insolvency factor into the failure of the local office of a major transnational bank. This triggers large public demonstrations in classic “run on the bank” style panic. An Aussie media mogul’s heir, ex-pat, newspaper publisher, Rip Buckingham lends a reporters voice to the narrative by keeping the outside world aware of the situations in Hong Kong. The ill-equipped local governor (Sun Siu Ki) cracks down on the demonstration with military and police force. Jake’s wife serves as the damsel in distress needing rescue after local black market businessman Sony Wong kidnaps her and the rebel leader for ransom. A well-funded, cyber-warfare savvy rebel group with a charismatic leader (Wu Tai Kwong, the Tiananmen tank man in this fictional account and Lin Pe’s son) escalates things to the next level in a series of high tech attacks that includes infrastructure attacks and futuristic battle bots worthy of Stark Industries. Most characters are well-drawn, including Buckingham’s wife (Sue Lin), a Hong Kong native, and her elderly mother Lin Pe (owner of a fortune cookie company). Some un-telegraphed interrelationships make for intricate final twists as the rebels, the robots and the Chinese army, confront each other in Kowloon.

Subject Headings: Hong Kong, China, Conspiracy, Jake Grafton (fiction)
Appeal: Rapid Pace, Foreign setting, Suspenseful (last one from NoveList)

3 terms that best describe this book:
•    Multiple Points of View
•    Action-oriented
•    Plot Driven (from NoveList)

Similar Fiction Books:
•    Clancy, Tom, Patriot Games. Similarity includes the foreigner plunged into action on foreign soil trying to “do the right thing,” pacing, government operatives as heroes, and the complexities of relationships with foreign cultures and politics.
•    Brown, Dan, The Lost Symbol. Similar in the suspense, detail, pacing, intrigue and character interrelationships.
•    Deaver. Jeffery, The Twelfth Card. Similar in suspense, pacing, need to rescue a kidnapped person, and complex puzzle of characters’ interrelationships.

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
•    Shipp, S. (1995) Hong Kong, China : a political history of the British Crown Colony's transfer to Chinese rule. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
•    Tripp, H. & M. (2000) Culture Shock!: Success Secrets to Maximize Business in Hong Kong. Portland, Or.: Graphic Arts Center Pub. Co.
•    Fodor’s, (2011) Fodor’s Hong Kong, Including Macau (travel guide)

Jewels Introduced

Wearer of many hats. Hats and more splendid hats!

Wife. Mom. Christian. Dog Owner.  Book Lover. Horse Lover. Designer. Gardener. Writer. Homework Cop. Grad. Student. Perfectionist. Procrastinator. (The last two I’m working on while my kids are working towards not needing so much homework oversight). My nickname is Jewels and books have been a lifelong interest. If you happened on this page and aren't in my Readers' Advisory class at IUPUI: I'm studying Library Science at IUPUI.

My husband and I were married in 1997. He’s an IT guy and knows more about relational databases than a shelf of textbooks can hold. He speaks Windows, I prefer to speak MacOS. My kids are 7 and 11 and very creative. Occasionally the experiments—well, let’s just say my life is never ever dull. One item on both of their minor special needs list is “sensory seeking.” Our dog is a grey Cairn Terrier (think Toto) named Pixel. Cats are his sworn, mortal enemy. (Fences make good neighbors if a terrier is in your life!) He’s a hunter with 4 notches on his collar (no cats). I have an established technique for rescuing sparrows when they’ve a run into a downspout to escape the dog. Did I mention my life is never, ever dull?

My bachelors and first career were in graphic design. I worked with print publications and direct mail for corporations, professional associations and business to business clients. I’ve owned my own freelance design business at points.

Children were definitely life changing additions! Mine are both adopted. Birthparents are the bravest people in the world. Having the otherwise silent 2 year old dismantle my office and throw things pretty much said it was time for me to drop that business. So career 2.0 contained the stay-at-home mom, childcare provider/teacher, and school volunteer hats.

Career 3.0 is beginning with working in the library and going to IUPUI for my MLS. I prefer the made up word “book-a-tic” to the real Latin-derived “bibliophile.” It’s just more fun to say: “book-A-tic.”

Things which appeal to me in books:

I prefer to go somewhere in space, time or the imagination. I love a well-turned phrase and abhor poor writing. I like books with plots and histories (real or imagined) and well-drawn characters. I love stories that make me think or reflect or that just keep me turning pages to find out what happens. So genre-wise, I can find a fun read nearly anywhere. My favorites span a fairly wide gamut but I do tend to prefer books which avoid themes like violent victimization of women, super gross-out scariness, constant cursing or raunchy sex.

I prefer good always winning over evil in stories. If it has a map of some imagined world on the endpapers or frontispiece, there is a really good chance I’m in. If there is a puzzle, a connection to real history, a quest, time travel, space ships, spies or detectives, I’m also all in. If it’s a gentle read that’s a tear jerker, fiction or non-fiction, I like those too but in smaller doses. Well-written Christian fiction is a fairly safe bet for me.

A smattering of some favorites in no particular order:
•    The Amber Room, T. Davis Bunn
•    This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti
•    Mitford Series, Jan Karon
•    Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien,
•    Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis,
•    Pendragon Cycle, Stephen Lawhead
•    The Once and Future King, T.H. White
•    A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeline L’Engle
•    Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas, James Patterson
•    Wind, Sand and Stars, Antoine de Saint Exuprey
•    West with the Night, Beryl Markam
•    The Willoughbys, Lowis Lowery
•    The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart
•    Jack Ryan series, Tom Clancy
•    Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
•    Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
•    Poirot mysteries, Agatha Christie
•    Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle

Early 20th century juvenile fiction series have a special place in my heart. Everything I know about falconry I learned from the Hardy Boys’ pal, Chet Morton, who had a different hobby in nearly every volume of their series. The early editions of the books are generally the best written and the funniest. Many of the Stratemeyer Syndicate series are special faves of mine: Ruth Fielding, Cherry Ames, Nancy Drew, The X Bar X Boys, the original Tom Swift.